Josh O’Connor is a knockout
Almeida Theatre
Josh O’Connor returns to the stage to play a young violinist who decides he can earn more money by becoming a boxer. The critics praised his acting and that of all the cast which includes Daniel Mays and Zubin Varla. There were mixed opinions of Clifford Odet‘s 1937 play: some loved the ‘bluntly brilliant satire of capitalism’ (Independent) but others thought didn’t quite land the punch intended (‘the moral sophistication of an RKO Studios B-movie’ Times. They liked Sam Yates‘ direction (‘lends the piece energy’ The Stage).
4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑
Time Out‘s Andrzej Lukowski liked it a lot: ‘Though elements of Sam Yates’ stylish take will doubtless prove to be divisive, I thought it was great, a crack cast meeting a bold vision that seeks to do more than just squeeze Golden Boy into standard naturalist tragedy shapes.’ He described the production: ‘Yates meets Odets’ lack of subtlety with operatic intensity (…) he does add a whole string quartet who hang out behind a wooden screen in Rosanna Vize’s stark ‘30s house interior set. Obviously they ram the point home. But it’s not like there was much subtlety there to begin with and very crucially they sound amazing, not simply for their more elegiac, melodious contributions but also the thrilling dissonance they unleash later on as Joe’s divided mind begins to crumble. The boxing scenes are a maelstrom of strings, movement and a black and white camera feed beaming images from a punchbag O’Connor is sparring with: it’s weird and chaotic and a bit Jamie Lloyd – I was a fan.’
The Independent‘s Alice Saville called the play ‘a bluntly brilliant satire of capitalism and the way it destroys people who mess with it’. She appreciated this version: ‘Yates’s superlative production throws everything it can at this savage play, making its text ripple through an operatic sonic universe.’ As for the star: ‘A shirtless, blood-smeared Josh O’Connor is a standout … taking on the title role of an ambitious young boxing star whose arrogance masks his vulnerability in the jaws of a machine he’ll never master.’
Dave Fargnoli of The Stage reported: ‘A canny staging from director Sam Yates lends the piece energy, slipping in surprises and striking images. Moments of symbolic movement – both graceful and tortuous – develop between scenes. Joe beats out rhythms on a punching bag that has a camera embedded inside, live streaming dizzying black-and-white shots, like scenes from Raging Bull.’
for the Telegraph called it ‘a gripping revival that proves there’s plenty of life in Clifford Odets’s half-forgotten American tragedy.’ ‘O’Connor carries himself with a loser’s stoop, leaning forward as if constantly yanked on by his ambition, or just bracing himself against the battering winds of the world.’ He concluded: ‘the strength of this production isn’t its handling of moral issues, but the thrill of blow-by-blow sensation.’
Olivia Rook for LondonTheatre brought attention to the whole cast: ‘O’Connor is joined by a stand-out supporting cast. Mays’s desperate and slippery Tom, full of empty promises, is happy to use people to get ahead — even his lover, the realistic Lorna Moon … who has learned to protect herself after a lifetime of disappointments. Zubin Varla is unsettling as the macabre puppet master Eddie Fuseli, who wants a stake in Joe and helps to shred his humanity. Meanwhile, Stanley Townsend’s kind Mr Bonaparte, Joe’s loving father, is the warm heart of this play.’
3 stars ⭑⭑⭑
Chris Wiegand reported for The Guardian: ‘It is a play of opposing forces: cynicism and optimism, instinct and intellect, defence and offence. Staging Golden Boy is principally a question of strings and ropes: how to capture Joe’s gift for the violin and his force in the ring. Sam Yates’s revival adds a prologue of stillness, with O’Connor watching a young boy play the instrument. As the music swells, he draws back the shutters on Rosanna Vize’s half-office, half-home set to reveal musical director Roman Lytwyniw’s elevated string quartet before picking up the violin delicately himself.’ The play didn’t knock him out: ‘Odets was a seasoned Hollywood screenwriter and the play has a hard-boiled poetry and deadpan humour, with the kind of polished lines that fly in a film noir or screwball comedy but are difficult to land on stage.’
The Times’ Clive Davis described it as ‘a production that has lots of muscle, but throws too many loose punches.’ He was almost persuaded: ‘O’Connor is so compelling, in fact, that you’re almost willing to overlook the flaws in a play that, at heart, has the moral sophistication of an RKO Studios B-movie.’
2 stars ⭑⭑
Gary Naylor for BroadwayWorld found: ‘the closing 30 minutes or so descends into melodrama, punctuated by so much shouting that I can’t have been alone in letting it just wash over me. Why director, Sam Yates, went for that approach, I do not know, but nothing gathers diminishing returns like an ear-battering in the theatre.’ He decided: ‘despite all that talent on stage and a superstar draw on the playbill, the production fails to establish a place in our hearts, the care we need to feel for those lost in capitalism’s seductive grip just not breaching the fourth wall.’
Critics’ average rating 3.5⭑
Golden Boy can be seen at The Almeida Theatre until 31 Otcober 2026. Buy tickets from the theatre almeida.co.uk
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